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Puxi G3 | STEAM Week — Recycled Fashion Show, Turning Waste into Treasure

June 2, 2023

Do you know the average person throws away 70 pounds of clothing per year? Do you know humans produce 13 million pounds of clothing waste a year? Do you know 95% of that waste could have been recycled or reused? The clothing waste is actually the second largest source of pollution on Earth. This week, the third-grade students of SHSID Puxi campus took active action, using Math, Engineering, Art, English, Chinese and Science skills, to actively explore how to use a series of recycled materials to create fashionable and eco-friendly designs.

Trash is misplaced resources. In order to make clothes, students actively searched for waste stuffs around them and brought them to school on Monday: newspapers, bubble wrap, cardboard, plastic bags, colorful pieces, bottle caps, drapes… It turned out that all materials were valuable before they were thrown away.

Sophisticated design was indispensable before the clothes were put into production. Almighty math could help students solve problems! One student in each group was selected as the model, and the other students worked together to measure the size of the model's head, arms, shoulder, chest, waist and legs with a soft ruler, and then carefully recorded them. Next, each group decided on the clothing style and sketched the picture together. Then, the geometry in math would come in handy. Squares, rectangles, triangles, circles, etc. in shapes, and cubes, rectangular prism, spheres, cylinders, etc. in solid figures were all used in the design, and the layers of clothes were suddenly enriched.

After putting the idea into practice, there were some challenges. Making clothes not only requires everyone's strong hands-on ability, but also tests the tacit understanding of a team. Each team member had different "work types," such as cutting, coloring, and gluing. And they also had different responsible parts, such as top, pants, shoes, hat, etc. In the process of making clothes, the students respected each other and complemented each other's strength. When encountering problems, they supported and encouraged each other.

On the last day of STEAM Week, each class held a grand fashion show. With confident steps and bright smiles on their faces, the young models walked on the red carpet wearing fashionable and environmentally friendly clothes, twirling, jumping, and posing in various "spotlight" poses. Other students in the same group took turns to introduce fluently in Chinese and English: What kind of design is this? What materials is it made of? Where did the inspiration for the design come from? Why should someone buy your design? What specific affect does this design have on the environment? During the presentation, the class cheered on the imaginative and fashion-forward outfits and applauded the brilliant presentations.

The students had gained unforgettable memories in this STEAM Week. Everyone had more to say and expressed a lot of thoughts about the events. "I learned the process of designing clothes in this event, and I want to enter the clothing industry in the future." "I like STEAM Week, because we can use the trash at home and create various things." "After participating in this activity, I understand the importance of recycling, and I will donate clothes to more needy people in the future.” In just one week, from planning, design, production to reflection, the students made artworks out of "garbage", turned waste into treasure, and gave new life to "garbage".

Written by Everly He

Pictures by G3 Teachers

Edited by Serene Yang, Elaine Zhu (Intern), Niall Keenan